Active shooter situations, in which an individual actively engages in the killing or attempted killing of people in a confined populated area, are complex situations and difficult for law enforcement agencies to prevent. A U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation report published in 2013 entitled, “A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013”, indicates that there were an average of 11.4 active shooting events annually. A closer look at the actual numbers per year indicates a higher distribution of the events during the period of 2007 to 2013, 16.4 active shooter events, when compared to the years of 2000 to 2006, where there was an average of 6.4 active shooter events. During that time frame, there were 160 active shooter events resulting in 1,043 wounded, including 486 deaths. The study also indicated that most of the active shooter incidents were rapid, with 60% of those incidents ending prior to police arrival. In fact, most of those incidents ended in five minutes or less.
In 2014 and 2015, there were 20 active shooting incidents each year. The more recent active shooter incidents, such as those carried out in Paris, France or San Bernardino, Calif., seem to indicate that the attacks are evolving into more complex, sophisticated, and more deadly occurrences. Each of these attacks included multiple gunmen, with Paris having 7 to 9 attackers. Moreover, there were indications that such attacks were politically or religiously motivated and possibly funded and sponsored by state terrorism. In 2016, the largest mass shooting occurred in Orlando, where an active shooter occurrence resulted in the deaths of 49 individuals, and 50 more wounded. Such trends indicate a need for better police training in order to minimize the number of individual deaths or injuries during an active shooter occurrence.
Most emergency situations require a quick response to best neutralize a dangerous situation. Given the lethality and ability to kill or injury large numbers of people in a short time period, a quick response to active shooter calls is imperative. In fact, the previous plan of delaying entry into an active shooter environment until trained teams of specialty officers arrive, assess the situation, and perform a sweep of the building is believed not to be effective. Getting these teams in place can result in a lot of inherent delay, providing the shooter(s) with more time to accomplish their goal, i.e. inflict more casualties. In addition, law enforcement agencies need the public to be prepared for possible active shooter situations and know how to handle such situations should they arise, including being watchful for active shooter threats. Accordingly, a system and method which allows identification of an active shooter situation and alerts law enforcement agencies quickly so that the law enforcement personnel can arrive at the scene as fast as possible is required.
The present invention attempts to address the need in the art by providing a system and method designed to minimize death or injury resulting from a security related occurrence, such as an active shooter scenario, by decreasing police, or other emergency response agencies, such as fire or medical, response time to an initial active shooter occurrence.